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Formerly the home of Beaumont-Wilshire Neighbors for Responsible Growth, the Portland Land Matters blog explores citywide land-use concerns, such as home demolitions, with the belief that development should create an improvement.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

You know what they say: failing to plan is a plan to fail

In research trips to the Bureau of Development Services, this map on the wall caught my eye. The island of white inside the blue identifies the neighborhoods without plans. No wonder our neighborhood's having problems, such as Wally Remmers' proposed 4-story 50-unit building without parking on Northeast Fremont between 44th and 45th avenues.

With some sites in Beaumont Village still zoned Commercial Storefront, which now we've learned can encompass mondo residential, Beaumont-Wilshire residents have a chance to take a proactive approach to shaping future development.

It may be years yet before we see the revised, long-awaited comprehensive plan from the city. That plan is meant to fix the kind of problems we're seeing with the Remmers project, according to the city's Northeast Liaison Debbie Bischoff. But better not to wait for or depend on that; let's get a plan, man.

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Welcome

Neighbors work at all levels to stem the destruction of unique, affordable housing and the wave of lower-quality and more expensive construction taking its place. Join us.

This blog also chronicles the fight to bring Wally Remmers's project on Northeast Fremont between 44th and 45th avenues into compliance. The project has become a symbol of the city's inability to consistently apply code and stand up to out-of-town developers exploiting Portland's finest resource.